OUGD603 Brief 5: Paper Stock

Choosing Paper Stocks –

To keep the book as close to the Mayan culture as possible, we wanted to make sure that each aspect of it was inspired by their craft. So, for the book, we took inspiration of the ancient Mayan Codex’s and the way they are made.

https://youtu.be/GMKDiaha_qEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=630e2bFLbfYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5ktwPXsyM The codex’s pages were made using a paper substitute known as Mesoamerican Bark Cloth, or Huun-Paper, that were held together with thick red thread. The cloth was made from the inner bark of certain trees, the main being the wild fig tree or amate. The Maya developed their huun-paper around the 5th century, which is roughly the same time that the codex became predominant over the scroll in the Roman world. Maya paper was more durable and a better writing surface than papyrus.The Bark cloth has some very prominent texture to it due to the way it was made and the grain of the bark used. With the texture of the cloth and the off white colour they have become over the years, I set out to find a paper similar to it. -          After speaking to mike in the print room, he mentioned Japanese paper as it had the handmade look and feel to it while also having the off white colour of the cloth. Cons: pretty expensive to make a few books on and the hand made ones cant go through the laser printer (http://www.japanesepaperplace.com/wholesale/naturals/naturals.htm )

-          There is Bark Paper made in America that would be perfect but the shipping cost alone would skyrocket the price of the project

-          The library has a really nice paper stock called antique paper which has almost the same colour to is as that of the Bark Paper

-          Fred alders had a vary wide variety of of stock to choose from, there was two that would work really well for the book but unfortunately there wasn’t enough there to use and the next delivery would cut close with the hand in date.

After discussing the possibilities with Kyle, we settled on the antique paper stock due to the availability and the affordability of the paper